The Walk & Read Club

Kim Hansard: Hi

Hi, I feel like I've failed the program.  I truly try to really DO things I commit to. Yes, the extremely hot weather made is more difficult and less "convenient" to participate in the Walk and Read Club, but somehow we always make time for the things we really want to do.  While I did not excel at this program, it was very much a learning experience and I did get back to reading...an activity that I had all but abandoned since the birth of my son 5 years ago. (unless you count the David Shannon books and other favorites for kids)

While I did not log hundreds of miles during the program, I did download audio versions of some books I had been "meaning to get to" meaning, they were in my bedside table drawer collecting dust.  My son and I also visited some parks in our community that we had not previously visited. 

Living in Halls, I am, of course familiar with the halls Greenway and we use it quite often.  We're also frequent visitors to the Sterchi hill Greenway and it's actually one of our favorite parks/greenways as there are soccer fields and plenty of activity.  Another park we've become familiar with is the New harvest park/trail...it's great to end the walk with a time of fun and cooling down in the splash pad.

A totally new park/trail experience to me was the Howard Pinkston Greenway...I have relatives in South Knoxville and have been talking care of some things there, so took the opportunity to check it out. I had a hard time finding it...mostly because I was on the wrong end of Martin Mill Pike.  Once we got there, we enjoyed it. My son thought I had taken him off to a far away land!

Finally, my son and I ventured off, just this week, to the Powell Greenway...Parking was a bit difficult as we went fairly early in the afternoon and school was still in session.  However, the park experience itself was fabulous...plus, we discovered another splash pad I knew nothing about, so E got to play in the water in his "real" clothes!

Programs like the Walk and Read Club are great to get us into or BACK into a habit.  Now that it's cooling down, we'll be getting out more and more...in fact, we just returned from another outing on the Halls Greenway and we can't wait for the Halls Park to be completed! Fall is my favorite time of year.  I know we'll be enjoying these facilities a lot in the months to come.

Books I "read" during this program:  
The Art of Racing in the Rain...Garth Stein
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo...Stieg Larsson
One Day...David Nicholls

Thanks for the opportunity to be a part of this program.

Kim

Denae D'Arcy: Stomach Ache

The Walk and Read Program is making my stomach hurt. Allow me to explain.

I am not very active. I was an all-star cheerleader for our co-ed squad at Carson-Newman College (way) back in the day. Complete with diet restrictions and three-a-day workouts to prepare for Nationals, we also did weigh-ins. It was strict and I wasn’t a fan of keeping up the regiment after graduation. 

 Since then, my exercise regiment has consisted of watering plants, gardening and the occasional furniture re-arranging project. I do eat a mostly healthy diet (a lot of veggies) and keep my physique under control that way. I usually do not exercise. 

That’s why the Walk and Read program has been so wonderful. I’m held accountable for my commitment to walk and listen to books at the same time. Not only do I feel stronger, my stomach hurts. Walking has motivated me to throw crunches (60 last night) and pushups into the workout mix! I’m waking up in the morning to recognize I have muscles again and it’s exciting to get the day started.

Denae D'Arcy: Confession Time

Confession time: I did not get off to the roaring start I’d planned. 

First, I had trouble with downloading the books and I couldn’t quite get them onto my iPod correctly. Then, I struggled with getting into a 30 minute-a-day walking routine.So, I decided to start off with a book on cd while I exorcised my technologically inept demons and walk whenever I had the chance.

My first book was Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes. I listened to the book part of the time while walking and then thought aloud or (I’ll admit it) talked on my cell phone to family members during the other half of the walk.

While I’m feeling incredible inspired to visit Italy again and even start a tiny savings account for a condo abroad, the biggest impact from the Walk and Read program so far for me is better calf muscles. Previously, mine resembled lumpy banana bread loaves and while they still do, at least now they are toned banana bread loaves. 

I hope you are enjoying the challenge as much as I am. Have you figured out how to get the books onto your iPod? Call the library and ask someone to help you if you are struggling. Perhaps we’ll run into each other soon walking in the Fountain City park. 

If I’m on my cell phone, please trip me.

Ben Epperson: May I Be Frank?

Hello Walkers and Readers,

My name is Ben Epperson and I am very late in getting this to you.

My apologies.

I work at the Knox County Health Department as the program manager for Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC from now on, probably). HKHC is a national initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help battle childhood obesity through community organization and advocacy for policy change surrounding how we design, implement and renovate our neighborhoods and communities. More on that later.

May I be frank? We’re buddies right?

I had a heck of a time getting an audio book. My problems stemmed, mostly, from the fact that I was being stubborn and refused to do things the “old-fashioned-way.”

Let me explain.

I have an iPhone. Very handy tool sometimes. Certainly very addictive. Sleek, versatile, clever and very, very distracting.

I mostly use my smart phone for listening to music and looking at maps when I’m lost or trying to find something. When I heard that I could download an audio book from the library directly to my phone, I made another mental check mark in the list of “justifiable reasons to spend hard earned money on my gadget” and began looking online and downloading the OverDrive app in order to find a suitable book.

My excitement quickly dwindled. All this technology was making it harder rather than easier to find what I needed. (story of my life, but I digress)

The OverDrive app only uses windows audio files, which are not compatible with an iPhone and so I would have to search for a book from my computer at home and download it in order to convert the files to mp3 so that they would be compatible with my phone. My computer at home was on the fritz, I was stuck and couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, how to use my work computer to download audio books without raising Cain with our IT guys and gals.

Then I remembered.

I check out about four audio books (on CD mind you) every year when my family and I go on a road trip for vacation or to visit friends. It’s simple. You walk into the library, browse, check out and pop the CD into your CD player. Now, you need to have hung onto your cd player and all its component parts since the mp3-player craze swept the nation. Luckily I did. 

I rode my bike over to the library just now and picked up my audio book.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

For those of you who don’t know, McCarthy lives in Knox County and a large number of his works are situated in or near Appalachia, except for The Border Trilogy (All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing and Cities of the Plain) which is set at the Mexico-American border.

Cormac McCarthy is my favorite author. Mr. McCarthy, if you’re reading this, forgive my ineloquence. 

The Road is a story of a father and son making their way to the coast across a barren and lifeless Tennessee. Something terrible has recently happened, some sort of nuclear apocalypse or the like, and only a few bands of roving humans have survived: no plants, no animals, no crops, no food, no sunshine, no life.

Sounds, pretty bleak I know. We’ll see how it goes.

I plan on listen-reading my book as I rebuild my little house in Parkridge. My Wife and I bought our “dream home” in January, a 750 square foot worker’s cottage on a corner lot in east Knoxville. We’re rebuilding the entire thing from the ground up in our spare time. Stay tuned as I recount my harrowing tale of despair and hope, of demolition and construction and of trying to live a healthy life by remaining active in my daily labors and being mindful of how I nourish my body. 

Thanks for reading and keep it up all you active livers in Knox County!

Ben

Chrissy Keuper: Innocent Blood by P.D. James (4)

Sunday: 01 August 2010
Book: Innocent Blood by P.D. James

Climbed back on the Walking Wagon today after a few days off… so easy to let bad habits take over, for shame! I just have to remind myself that really, it’s just as easy to work out as it is to put it off. Today, a 50-minute walk on the treadmill and a few weights... 

Nice to be back on board.

Missy Kane: Hey From Missy

I am big reader and just finished The Girls from Ames and loved it.  True story about dozen ladies in mid 40’s who grew up in Ames, Iowa and have kept in touch all these years w/ yearly reuinions and now email etc. They share with a good writer all about their interaction w/ each other.  The good, bad, naughty, endearing things they did in highschool, college and how even w/ their differences (religion, politics etc) they have a special bond different from family bonds or other friends they have had etc.

 

I also like books on tape and listening to one of Dr. Bass books new Body Farm books. (in my car but can’t think of exact title)

 

I am really a big biker in summer and just did 60 miles on Blue Ridge Parkway yesterday w/ group of 6 friends (all 40-60 years old) so I can’t listen to books and be safe doing that but find listening to good book on drive home is really neat way to stay awake and enjoy good book.

Kristi Nelson: Meet the Goats

Between a couple of really busy workweeks and a quick trip to visit family at the other end of the state, we’ve been a little out of the Walk-and-Read loop lately. I don’t mean we haven’t walked – we just haven’t had much dedicated walking-for-exercise-while-listening-to-a-book time. We’ve been walking with destinations in mind.

So I was more than ready for another park outing when I read in the News Sentinel that the city, encouraged by Keep Knoxville Beautiful, had hired a herd of goats to chomp down the kudzu at Fort Dickerson. And KKB was sponsoring a “Meet the Goats” event Thursday evening. Of course, Amelia and I were so there.

It was a longer drive up to the park than I remembered from my last visit, four or five years ago, but as we rounded that final bend, we could see the goats out in full force, along with people watching and photographing them. Side note: Goats, which have three stomachs, have a super-fast metabolism and may graze up to 20 hours a day. If I had a goat’s metabolism, I would not be struggling with my weight. Then again, it would be much harder to find cute shoes.

My original plan called for us to see the goats and then drive to a nearby park where we always enjoy walking. Fort Dickerson, a Union-built Civil War earth fortification high above South Knoxville, has walking paths, but they’re unpaved and uneven, and I was not sure how our stroller (and CD player) would handle them.

However, the heavy air and distant thunder made me think we might not make it anywhere else before the rain. So we loaded Curious George and set out to walk the main path where the fort was. 

We walked the circular path inside the old fort, dotted with markers and cannons, then walked a longer path around the outside. Small hills made pushing the stroller a bit more of a workout than walking along a paved track, as we typically do. It also made it hard for me to hear Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey’s original Curious George story, though I found the jazzy background music soothing. 

Amelia, however, had no trouble following the initial adventures of the impish little monkey, and by the time George was off the ship and on his way to the zoo, we had rounded the last corner and had the clearing in sight. I restarted the 14-minute CD track for another go-round.

That’s when the skies opened up, and the goats migrated, en masse, to their dry trailer. 

We took shelter at a large octagonal pavilion named in honor of Lindsey Young, where a lone nanny goat – Whitey – nibbled greenery as she waited to accommodate people who wanted to pet a goat. Hoping to get another 10 minutes of walking in, I started pacing the perimeter of the pavilion, while Amelia re-listened to Curious George. 

Then, who should amble up but Whitey? She expressed a keen interest in Amelia’s book. Alas, it turned out she only wanted to eat it.

I enjoyed introducing Amelia to the original Curious George, a book that was a particular favorite of my young brother. Next, we’ll read Curious George Goes to the Hospital. I remember being fascinated as a child by the idea that George drank barium and then had an X-ray that showed the puzzle piece he’d eaten inside him. I’m sure it sounds like more fun than it is.

We managed to keep the book from a similar fate, and when the rain let up, we headed for home.

I probably wouldn’t have thought to walk at Fort Dickerson with my child. But on a day when it was alive with people and goats, I found it beautiful and welcoming. And the views are incredible.

No kidding.

Chrissy Keuper: Innocent Blood by P.D. James (3)

Wednesday:  21 July 2010
Book:  Innocent Blood by P.D. James

Today I walked for 45 minutes AND I was brave and strong and walked outside. I live in Bearden, along Sutherland Avenue, and it’s such a great neighborhood…a lot to see on a walk.

Listened to Chapters Five and Six…I had to make myself stop today. Quite suspenseful. James’ main characters often come from tough backgrounds, what we might call “dysfunctional” environments… They’ve often had really hard lives and function both because of and in spite of their experiences. She also has a real knack of exploring how difficult, uncomfortable, and unexpected experiences can lead to the emergence of someone’s true character. 

Philippa has discovered the whereabouts of her birth mother, not a happy scenario. As Philippa pursues the possibility of meeting and spending time with her mother, the facts surrounding her adoption begin to come out, shedding light on the personalities of her adoptive parents… who are not as kind as they may have seemed…

BWAHAHAHAAAAA

Chrissy Keuper: Innocent Blood by P.D. James (2)

Tuesday:  20 July 2010
Book:  Innocent Blood by P.D. James

Today, I walked for a little more than 40 minutes, and then did a little light weightlifting for 10 minutes or so. For those wondering where I’m doing my walking: I’m a wimp in the heat, and I’ve already mentioned the grumbling I’m apt to do, so I’ve been on a treadmill. Indoors. With air-conditioning.

Chapters Three and Four today in another great book…The story revolves around Philippa, who’s just turned 18. She was adopted at age 8 and now has legal access to information about her birth parents…and she’s finding that the reality of her heritage is nothing like what she’s imagined.

(Sorry to be vague, but I wouldn’t want to ruin it for you.)

Innocent Blood is a different sort of mystery from James, totally unlike anything else of hers that I’ve read. I’m really enjoying it!

Chrissy Keuper: Innocent Blood by P.D. James

Monday: 19 July 2010
Book: Innocent Blood by P.D. James

I absolutely love the British mystery…and P.D. James has long been a favorite author of mine, so I was excited to discover a title that I hadn’t yet read: Innocent Blood. Today were Chapters One and Two. I walked for 40 minutes.

It’s been a long time since I “read” an audiobook. Years, really. I discovered today that I require a warm-up period for the audiobook as much as for the workout, just a few minutes to lose the train of the story, rewind, begin again and focus.

I also re-discovered how easy it becomes to lost track of time and place because of a good book. Coming to the end of Chapter 2, I was shocked and delighted to see that 40 minutes had passed and I hadn’t once inwardly complained, bemoaned, or otherwise grumbled about the workout. (The grumbling is, traditionally, a ritual of my exercising, so it was nice to do without that.)

I can’t believe it, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s walk. Thanks be to the Book!